View of Singapore from Mount Wallich, Percy Carpenter, British (1820–1895), Singapore, 1856, Oil on canvas, National Museum of Singapore

The Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) presents Port Cities: Multicultural Emporiums of Asia, 1500 – 1900, an exhibition which explores the unique heritage of Asian port cities and tells the story of how the global flow of people, goods and ideas contributed to the evolution of multi-cultural societies in Singapore, and other port cities in Asia today.

The first in the world to explore the topic, Port Cities: Multicultural Emporiums of Asia, 1500 – 1900 also charts a lesser known era of globalisation, identifying linkages between cities across the Asian continent, from Goa and Bombay in India, to Batavia (Jakarta) and Manila in Southeast Asia, to Canton (Guangzhou) and Nagasaki in East Asia. Exhibits tell the stories of how specific people and objects adapted as they travelled across the seas from one port city to another; and how communities in many of these port cities were thoroughly modern, in that they blended the latest global trends with their own local traditions of craft and design to create entirely new forms of fashion, decorative arts and ways of living.

The exhibition presents three aspects related to the movement of people, goods and ideas in Asia – Divergence (Moving, Selling, Copying), Convergence (Owning, Collecting, Commissioning), and Integration (Contriving, Combining, Creating); and how these aspects shaped the development of port cities.

Curator Tours: Fridays, 18 November, 16 December, 20 January, 17 February
7.30 to 8.30pm, $25 per session, book at ACM Front Desk or Peatix

Venue: Asian Civilisations Museum, 1 Empress Place, Singapore 179555

Hours: Monday to Sunday: 10am to 7pm (to 9pm on Friday)

Admission: S$15

When: 4 Nov 2016 - 19 Feb 2017,

By: Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM)